InshAllah

Pakistani Dinner Night

Mere pati, meri dost, aur main

InshAllah 


Several months ago when I was just beginning to learn Hindi I was messaging one of my friends in Pakistan and she told me 'InshAllah' referring to learning Urdu. I asked her what it meant and she said that

"InshAllah means if God wants you to then you will do this easily"

And though I would not say that this past year of learning Hindi was easy (and I honestly wouldn't say that I have learned it yet). It was full of challenges and stepping outside of my comfort zone but it is certainly seeming clear that God does want me to learn and practice this beautiful language.

Read more about InshAllah. 

They All Speak a Different Language

Felicia Follum
Washed in Blood – Henna
Mixed Media

I have friends from all over India here in the us. One night I was hanging out with about 10 Hindi speaking friends. They were all speaking different dialects, had different accents, and some may have even been speaking Urdu and i would have never known. 

This to me is absolutely fascinating. ugh though I am not quite sure how it will impact my learning. Maybe it will make me more diverse or just confuse...but In reality, I will just accept it as a lot of fun.

I guess my current plan is to keep learning all that I can (and at times filter out what is the most important and the general idea). 

My current tip (to myself) in regard to spelling is to learn from one good resource mainly and take everything else with a grain of salt.  sticking with one source will also help me learn the alphabet and transliterations better... Shyad, I will add more sources/spellings as I become more comfortable.

Since I began this post I have encountered one big problem with the one source strategy but will get to that in a future blog post.

Tricky English: There, to, one,

Here are some tricky English words for my friends learning English.

These are just a few of the tricky words in the English language. Even native speakers have a difficult time with these three sets of similar words.

There is one person over here.
Their team won the game.
They’ve two games to go.
They’re too crazy.

Dry Bones, Felicia Follum, $165, Watercolor + Ink

There – place. Ex. (example) over there
Their – shows owner ship. Refers to people (remember “he and I are both people” tHEIr)
*They’re – they are
*They’ve – they have

One – number
won – past of to win
Two – number
Too – excessive (remember “too has too many oo’s”)
To – part of a the infinitive verb form “to run, to dance, to kiss, etc” some would refer to it as a preposition but I'm pretty sure it's not.

Please comment or ask questions below, and I will try my best to answer. But hopefully someone will have my back** and help me out if I don't know.

haha and as a side note, I am not an English scholar, just a native speaker. Please feel free to add to this post or make suggestions (in the comments). I will update anything that needs to be changed (from the comments below).

*Note that contractions should not be used in formal writing but should be used in speech.
 **To have my back slang for "to help me out"

Hindi Phrases: Speak Hindi Phrase App

My first phrase list has been your favorite blog post of mine so far, so I figured you would enjoy a round two with some more phrases that I learned from a phrase app on my phone. It is called "Speak Hindi."

I give this app at 4 out of 5 starts. It has both spoken and text for each of the phrases and is organized well into categories that make sense. I couldn't give it 5 stars because a few spoken phrases do not match with the text.

If you are using the language learning strategies of memorizing phrases to begin learning a language, the mismatch is confusing. Another common purpose of using a phrase app is for those who have no knowledge of the language. The inconsistency is confusing for this people group as well.

But there are only a few of these inconsistencies and it really didn't bother me that much. I would certainly recommend the app.

I will share the text below (and share any corrections Hindi speakers share with me in the future).

Basics

A photo from our trip...I will share more photo stories soon.

Kya aap dohrane ki kripya karenge?
Can you please repeat that?

Bhagwaan aapka acha kare
Good luck

Woh kya hai?
What is that?

Business

Jitnee jaldi ho sake
As soon as possible

Acha kaam kiya
Good job

Yeh raha mera business card
Here is my business card

Hum bharat mein kaam karna chahtein hain
We want to work in India

Emergency

Doctor/Police ko bulayo
Call the doctor/police

Yahan par aspatal kahan par hai
Where is a hospital

Kya aap angrezi boltein hain?
Do you speak English?

Main kho gaya hun
I am lost

Main bimar hoon
I am sick

Mujhe madad ki jaroorat hai
I need help

Lost in Translation: But Oooh So Cool

I absolutely love (and am utterly frustrated by) the challenges of trying to understand Hindi.

Needing to translate while a conversation is taking place is sometimes nearly impossible. I know that it takes tons and tons of times hearing a new word in a given language to actually know it.

I am also learning that Hindi is taking more effort than Spanish did. However there are several factors that I am sure are contributing to this. I will discuss them in a future post.

Every conversation I pick up a bit more…with the exception of days when I can’t understand a single word. I think trying to teach myself a language has been one of the most challenging and frustrating tasks I have ever taken on….

Well, maybe being an artist is the most challenging…Cool thing, I suppose, is that these challenges may be two of the most rewarding obstacles to overcome…so far, though I suppose neither has actually been overcome...

Our Love Story Hindi Mai

This is my first actual Hindi writing attempt. Any Hindi speakers out there who are willing to make corrections or give me better/alternative ways to say things, would be greatly appreciated. Dhanyavaad Doston!

To aaj rat main meri pati ke liye “what should I write about**” boli gaya. Aur veh bole, “Write about me!!”
Last night I asked my husband “What should I write about.” He said “write about me.”

"Thik hai boo. Yeh main karungi."
ok love (boo is not Hindi haha its African American Vernacular English). I will.

Main abhi "kya mai likoongi?" soch rahi hoon.
Now I'm thinking "what will I write?"

Mere pati ke naam Jim hai. Veh chatra ke Electrical Engineering hai aur veh bahut bahut smart hai. Usake Ajad samaya mai, Mere pati video game khelna chahate hain aur movies dhekte hain. 
or
Usake ajad samaya mai, meri pati ke video game khel rahe aur movie dhek rahe pasand hai
My husband’s name is Jim. He is an Electrical Engineering student and very smart. In his free time, my huband likes/wants to play video games and watch movies.

Meri pati bhi ankhien aur baal ke bura. Veh bhi lamba aur patala hain. Mujhe veh bahut bahut sundara hain.
My husband has brown hair and eyes. He is also tall and thin. I find him very handsome.

Magar khabi khabi bhi mere pati mere sath nasamajhe hain.
But sometimes my husband is goofy with me.

Hum eka satha maza karte hain.
We have fun together.

Hum dono khel ke taash khelte hain aur sangeet sunte hain.
We both like to play card games and listen to music.
Hum satth saal puva ryatra mai mil gaye. Veh bahut dost tha main bahut dost tha.
we met eachother on a road trip. His good friend was my good friend

Jim aur main bahut donsten jaldi banate hain?
We quickly became good friends.

Do saal ke bad veh mujhe puchthe the “kya tu mujhse shadi shuda karogi.” Aur main bolti thi “haan, bilkul.”
After two year, he asked “will you marry me” and I said “yes, of course.”

Jim meri pyari aur main bahut accha dost aur main use/usake such pyar karti hoon.
Jim is my true love and best friend and I love him.

Lol main samajti hook ke meri kahani bahut bahut sappy thi magar veh maza tha aur adhikatara sach hai.
Lol I know that my story was very very sappy, but it was fun and it's mostly true. 

phir, veh meri kahani ke meri pyari aur main.
Well, that's the story of my love and I


Words I looked up using Google translate.

Ke bad – after
Ajad – free
Samaya – time
Usake lie - for him
Puva – ago
sundara - handsome
nasamajhe - goofy
adhikatara - mostly
 
My questions
How would I say "best friend" and "good friend"? I used "bahut dost" for both.
smart - ?

**Hehe this is what happens when you joke with me, Jim. 


Alright, someone ask me a question or give me a topic to write on for my next Hindi writing practice blog post.

Bolna: Tense Practice

In the Faebook group Learn Hindi, we have been going through several verbs and making sentences in different tenses for them. Here is my first attempt with the verb bolna, to speak.

I hope my writing and verb practices only get better from here on, as this one was a bit rough.
You can see the original corrections here.

Snapshot from Qutb Minar - More snapshots on FB

Bolna - To speak

1. I speak quickly (f) - Main jaldi bolti hoon
2. I spoke quickly (f) - Main ne jaldi boli
    I used to speak quickly (f) - Main jaldi bolti thi
3. I will speak quickly (f) - main jaldi boloongi
4. I speak quickly (m) - Main jaldi bolta hoon
5. I spoke quickly (m) - Main ne jaldi bola
    I used to speak quickly (m) - Main jaldi bolta tha
6. I will speak quickly (m) - Main jaldi boloonga
7. We speak quickly - hum jaldi bolte hain
8. We spoke quickly - Hum ne jaldi bole
    We used to speak quickly - Hum jaldi bolta tha 
9. We will speak quickly - hum jaldi bolenge 
10. Girl speaks quickly - lardki jaldi bolti hai
11. Girl spoke quickly - ladki ne jaldi boli
12. Girl will speak quickly - lardki jaldi boledi
13. Boy speaks quickly - lardka jaldi bolta hai
14. Boy spoke quickly - lardka ne jaldi bola
15. Boy will go home - Lardka jaldi bolega
16. Girls speak quickly - Lardkiyon Ladkiyan jaldi bolte bolti hain
17. Girls spoke quickly - Lardkiyon ne jaldi bolte the boli
18. Girls will speak quickly - Lardkiyon Ladkiyan jaldi bolengi
19. Boys speak quickly - Lardke jaldi bolte hain
20. Boys spoke quickly - Lardke Ladko ne jaldi bole
21. Boys will speak quickly - Lardke jaldi bolenge
22. I may speak quickly - Main jaldi boloon
23. We may speak quickly - Hum jaldi bolen
24. You may speak quickly - Tu jaldi bole
25. You may speak quickly - Tum jaldi bolo